Do you remember when it was hard to find education as a stylist? Free education didn’t truly exist unless you were lucky enough to work in a salon that brought in educators.
If you wanted a class, you had to pay. If you flew to a big brand conference or hair show, it meant buying a ticket, even though you didn’t always know who you would see.
And sometimes that educator was amazing… and sometimes they left you wondering if there was any way to get that time or money back.
That was only 20 years ago but feels like ancient history because education is now at our fingertips. The education market has expanded because accessibility has increased. You can find incredible classes on YouTube, Instagram, or your local beauty supply store. But in such a noisy market, it can be difficult to differentiate between high quality and high hype.
Let’s take a look at your educational opportunities and walk through how to choose the best educators.
What education really costs
When you pay for education, there’s a financial cost. You have to choose to spend money out of your bank account on educating yourself.
We are slow to spend money on education, but we’re not slow to spend time. Everyone is happy to watch YouTube and Instagram, scroll social media, or mindlessly listen to podcasts. When you watch free stuff instead of paying for education, you’re spending time.
Here is the biggest issue with spending time: time is the one resource we can’t get more of. Our time is finite: we have 24 hours in a day and a limited lifetime on this planet. You can learn to make more money, but finding more time is challenging.
Decide if it’s worth spending money on education versus spending hours consuming the free stuff to find the golden nuggets.
Paid education will always be better than free education
If you were booked for a month’s worth of free haircuts, would that be your best work, or do you show up to offer your best self to those who pay? The free haircuts and the guest experience wouldn’t be of the same caliber as it would be with somebody who is paying.
There’s no high-quality educator on this planet who gives away the good stuff for free. You’re not getting strategy; you’re getting inspiration. They save the good stuff for those who choose to spend money instead of time.
Find educators whose free stuff leaves you wondering what you’d get if you paid. If you can’t learn in-depth education from them for free – they have pretty photos but only a few tips – they likely have a shallow depth of knowledge.
That’s a red flag. You want to invest in educators who seem to have a wealth of knowledge because there’s always a next level.
Put your filters on when you’re listening to free education. Does this person talk about skills, techniques, and topics you can take away from, or the same thing? If the latter, you probably don’t need to pay to see their class because you’ve already got the information.
Keep your eyes wide open when you’re following free stuff. If the free stuff leaves you drooling, the paid stuff is probably even better.
Ask others for opinions
If you’re going to invest money in a program, always ask around because people will tell you if they have good experiences.
If you don’t, you might invest a couple hundred dollars on a program from a reputable educator, take the course that everyone knows is bad, and wish you could get your money and time back.
If you don’t know a lot of people to ask, do your research. Google the educator to get some feedback on that person. Are there testimonials on their website about what it’s like working with them? Do they have two or three testimonials or 40? Is it good, bad, ugly, or ghost town? Doing that research before you make a financial or time investment is a smart move.
Get clear on what you need through your education
At the top of each year, decide what you need from your education. Make the time to do in-depth research and ask yourself these questions:
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What kind of support do I need? What does that look like for you? Do you need somebody to bounce one-on-one questions off of?
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Who do I want to surround myself with in the year ahead? You might want a badass community next year, only hang out with a couple of mentors, or a great peer group. Or you don’t need any of those, just a great education program. Those are totally different opportunities, so get clear on how you need to surround yourself and what your support looks like.
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Where is my business headed in the next five years? If your business is headed in a big direction in the next five years, the level of support you need to make that happen might change.
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What are my weakest points? Where is your business soft right now? What areas could you perform stronger in? If you are going to fix those weak points, so everything is strong, what tools, resources, and classes do you need? Make choices in alignment with your goals.
How to stay on the free education train
If you choose to do free education, you have to invest time instead of money. You have plenty of time to invest in podcasts, blogs, YouTube videos, and Instagram.
Narrow your focus by picking to get in a zone of genius. If you chose what areas of your business to work on (step 3), it will be clear who you should geek out over and who you should take a timeout on, at least in the first part of the year.
Choose two educators to fully geek out over: follow their teachings, watch every video two times, and attend every training they offer. Be a mega fan of a couple of people and it will pay off in the long run.
Show up to that free education as if it were paid. Turn your phone off and take notes on that YouTube video or podcast, and soak up every bit of information. Because if you don’t, you’re just listening mindlessly and will change nothing.
If you aren’t going to invest money, invest your time wisely. When you’re ready for the good stuff, figure out who is worth it and make the investment.
